Always
by myeyesareasblueastheocean
Summary: A look into episode 7x14- Smoke gets in your CSIs. CONTAINS SPOILERS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Eric and Calleigh centric.


**R&R. This is just a one shot. Maybe.**

It had been a long day, Calleigh reasoned. That was why she felt bad, felt so un-Calleigh-ish. It was all wrong. Her brain lagged, and she felt out of shape, which was nearly impossible with the many miles she ran each day. It didn't help that Eric kept giving her those _looks. _The ones that made her sigh, and her heart accelerate and rocket of the insides of her chest. That look that said, "I love you, and I want you to be okay. I want to kiss you, and make you scream in pleasure. I want to marry you, and have kids with you. I want to live, looking into each other's eyes until we are sitting in a nursing home." And it drove her crazy. Because he knew. And she knew.

Jesus, the entire lab knew.

The fire at the house had scared the shit out of her. She had thought that it was her last day on the earth.

_BANG. BANG BANG BANG. The shots echoed throughout the house. Ryan had hit the floor on the first bullet, hands covering his head and neck. Calleigh had ducked behind the old mattress nearby from which she was collecting evidence. A few silent, heart wrenching seconds passed, where each person wondered about the fate of their partner. _

_"Ryan, are you okay?" she called out, unable to wait any longer._

_"Yeah, are you?"_

_"I'm fine. Just skittish, I guess. How did someone get a gun onto a closed crime scene?"_

_"I don't know. Officer Erwin probably has it under control."_

_Calleigh had not been listening to this statement, her eyes were closed and she was trying to weed out a smell that she had just caught a sniff of. 'Was that always here?'_

_"Ryan, do you smell that?"_

_"Smell what?"_

_"I don't know. It kind of smells like smoke."_

_"Its probably mold. It occurs in attics with all the heavy rains in Miami."_

_"No. It is smoke." The smoke alarms came on right on cue. "Ryan, we need to get out of here."_

_Ryan flew across the attic to the trap door, wrenching it open and sliding down the collapsible ladder onto the third floor of the home. Calleigh was behind him, but her shoes slowed her down; she couldn't slide down the ladder, but had to take each step one at a time. Ryan's legs carried him quickly through the house. Fire raged around them, swallowing the combustible materials. _

_'Damn shoes,' Calleigh cursed to herself. Ryan was already turning the hallway to the final set of stairs to the first floor, but she had just gotten off the stairs from the third floor. A loud crackling sound from above her warned that the ceiling was about to fall in. She knew that she'd never catch up in time to live. Ryan was probably out of the house by now, and she couldn't get past the burning rubble that now filled the hall. Her lungs were struggling for pure oxygen, which couldn't be found. _

_The lack of air was making her light headed. She couldn't recall details that she knew that she should be able to recall. Calleigh hacked as she looked for another way out of the house. Which way did she come from again? Whose house is this? Why is she here?_

_"Calleigh?!" called Ryan from the front lawn. She was just behind him, what happened? Officer Erwin lay dead, covered in blood a few feet away. What was going on? _

_He kicked a back door opened, knowing she might be trapped, making her inaccessible from the front door. He ran up a set of utility stairs the led from the kitchen to the second floor. _

_"Calleigh?" He looked wildly around, finally orienting himself with the path that they were taking the first time. Ryan saw a few stray blonde hairs laying on the floor, in the hallway ahead of him. _

_He then saw that the hairs were attached to a head, one of an unconscious female. Her face was coated in black dirt, and her hand was laying on a burning piece of wood. _

_It was Calleigh._

_He picked up her lifeless form, fireman style, and ran out of the house. He laid her down on the lawn, checking her pupils, pulse and breathing. Ryan pulled out his cell phone and dialed three short numbers._

_"This is Officer Wolfe. I need back up at a crime scene. Call a code 43 to 1551 Willow st. Officer down, I repeat, Officer down!"_

Calleigh jumped back into the present. She knew that she owed Ryan her life. He rescued her from the house, administered CPR, called an ambulance. Yet she could see the guilt in his eyes. He felt like it was his fault that she got left behind and trapped. When she told him not to blame himself, he simply looked off into the distance, a frown gracing his features.

She was standing outside the interrogation room, waiting for Eric to come, watching Ryan interrogate the wife of the victim. She smiled; Ryan had come so far in the short time he had been a CSI. Eric walked up behind her, silently. She jumped as Eric placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" She couldn't see him, but knew that he was giving her the look. His voice was quiet, like the lines between to lovers in an intimate embrace.

"Yeah." She echoed back in the same volume. He didn't say anything, and so they stood together quietly, enjoying each other's presence. Eric was thankful he could feel her heartbeat, coursing under his fingers. She was thankful that she could feel his hand upon her shoulder. Ryan stood up as the victim was led out of the room.

"Life's too short," she whispered. Eric's heart sighed, as his eyes watered. He couldn't even be sure that she said it. God, he hoped so.

Ryan walked out of the room, and Eric dropped his hand off of her shoulder, maintaining some composure.

"Couldn't get anything we didn't already know out of her. Who do you guys have?"

Eric spoke up, "The partner from his practice. We found trace under the vic's class ring."

"Good luck," he nodded to them. Eric continued forward, but Ryan placed his hand on Calleigh's upper arm to stop her. He lowered his voice, "Calleigh, are you sure you're okay?"

"Ryan, I am fine. I promise." She gave him a smile, then walked past him into the room. Eric gave her a questioning look, but she dismissed it with a curt shake of her head.

"Dr. Sangavi, what would you say your relationship with Dr. Willard is? Do you get along well?" questioned Calleigh.

"It is very good, yes. We work together very nice. Always respectful of my views and decisions."

"So you wouldn't say that you ever fought?"

"No."

"Then why did our lab find your DNA underneath Dr. Willard's class ring?"

"What? I don't know."

"You should know. DNA doesn't appear by magic. And before you give me some bullshit lie about how he handed you the ring and you placed it on your finger, let me tell you this," Eric had to bite back a smile. God, she was so sexy when she was interrogating. "The DNA found under his ring was from blood cells. The only way Dr. Willard could get this blood is if you fought him, or if he performed an illegal operation on you."

"No!"

"He did. He replaced your kidney, and because you felt so grateful, you switched practices, covering his extra patients. You became his bitch, trading on the black market, so he could keep his own ass clean. Didn't you?"

"No! I didn't, I swear!"

"But when you started getting threats, you freaked out. That's why you-" Calleigh stopped mid-sentence. She was trying to breathe, but all that Eric could hear was a whistling sound coming from her throat. Her eyes were paralyzed in fear.

"Cal?" Eric said, grasping her shoulder. "Cal, what's wrong?"

All she could do was attempt to breathe. Her breath became a choking sound.

"Cal! What's going on?" He turned to the Doctor, "Help her! She can't breathe!"

"No…no…I'm no real doctor. I lied…"

"What?!" Eric was outraged. Of all the times for a person to lie about something in an interrogation, he had to lie now?

He whipped out his phone, and dialed 911. As it was ringing, he laid her down on the floor of the room, kneeling over her.

"This is Officer Delko, we need an ambulance at the Miami Dade police department. Hurry- we have a non-responsive officer. She can't breathe!"

He felt for a pulse, and checked her pupils. Her pulse was slow, but existant. She was unable to breathe now, and so he did the only thing he could think of doing.

He plugged her nose between his two fingers, and formed a tight seal of his lips around hers. Her lungs inflated as he exhaled. He pulled away, and saw that her lips were tinged blue.

Would she make it? God he hoped so.

Later in the E.R.

"Alexx, what's wrong with her?" Eric ran up to the former M.E. as she entered the waiting room.

"She had an asmatic shock. Her airways closed off because of all the crud in them. Eric, what happened to her?"

_The ambulance sirens could be heard down the street, but Ryan was more focused on the unconscious female on the ground. He continued rescue breathing, wondering if it was really doing anything._

_Calleigh coughed. It was weak, and somewhat questionable. But Ryan's heart swelled. Thank god. She might make it. The ambulance screeched to a halt as her eyes fluttered open. She coughed again. _

_"Calleigh, are you okay?" She could only nod, wheezing, as the EMT came up behind Ryan._

_"What's wrong with her?" The man said as he assessed the scene._

_"She was trapped in the house, I found her unconscious, on the second floor. She was in there for about five minutes."_

_"What's your name?" The EMT asked of Calleigh._

_"Calleigh Duquesne. I work for Miami Dade PD." She stopped talking and grasped her ribs, as a wince of pain flew across her face. _

_"Okay, Calleigh? Can you sit up for me?" She struggled awkwardly to an upright position. "Good. Alright, I want you to put your hands above your head." The EMT saw Ryan's questioning look. "It helps to open up her diaphragm. She'll be able to breathe better."_

_The EMT placed an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. He felt for a pulse, and looked at his watch. _

_"135 over 90. Calleigh, I need you to take slow deep breaths. Focus on expanding your lungs as much as you can." Ryan sat near, unclear on whether he should do something to help her. A sheen of sweat was collecting on his body because he knew that he couldn't live with himself if she died. He felt so guilty._

"…They got her pulse down to 120, and she demanded that she was fine. Guess the EMT didn't know that for Calleigh "I'm fine" is the equivalent of "I'm fine enough". Clearly there is a difference."

"They had trouble ventilating, Eric. I'm going to be honest, she was never fine. All I can say is that it's going to take a lot to get her well again."

"Alexx, I feel guilty." Eric hung his head.

"Aw, honey, why? You weren't there. You couldn't stop them from letting her go back to work. You can't blame yourself. You know that."

"I never told her. I never told her; she asked to know and I couldn't tell her. If she dies, if she dies without knowing I love her- I don't think I'd ever be truly able to live again. I lost Speed, I lost Marisol. I can't lose Calleigh."

Alexx had tears in her eyes. She knew that they were meant to be together. They meshed in a unique way that only soul mates and lovers could. Alexx placed her hand under his chin and lifted his head. She looked him in the eye sternly.

"Eric Delko, in all the years I have known you, I have not known you to not go after something you're sure about. You cannot sit here and let her pass you by. For as much as you know, time could be almost up for her. And regretting not telling her will kill you, Eric."

He shook his head. "What good will it do? She's unconscious; she can't hear me. And as far as I know, she doesn't like me. Telling her won't save her. It won't bring her back."

"Eric, I have seen some miracles in my life. When you were shot, I saw a miracle. We didn't know that you were going to wake up. Calleigh was beside herself with fear. But when she went in that room, you woke. You woke when 12 doctors said you wouldn't. You had most of your memory when 12 doctors said you wouldn't. Calleigh was your miracle. She was your saving grace. Plus it was the first time I knew you two would end up together. So go in there and save her."

A newfound confidence soared through Eric. He stood up and nodded at Alexx in thanks. Sliding the hospital door open, he entered the quiet serene of her room. A steady beep echoed that of her heart. Eric walked over to her bed.

"Cal?" she didn't move.

"Calleigh, you're my best friend. You have been for seven years. And I can't imagine not knowing you. We have been through so much together. You were there for me, when Speed died, and Marisol. You were there when I got shot, and when I couldn't sleep after you got kidnapped. God, Cal, I was so scared when you were kidnapped. And I never thought I would see you again. That's when I knew I couldn't live without you. I love you, Calleigh. That's it. I want to date you. I want to marry you, and have babies. I want to end up holding each other's hands at the ripe old age of 105. I want to die lying in each other's arms. Because I love you. I love you more than words can describe. So you need to get better. You need to pull through. Because I will not be able to carry on without you at my side."

Tears were flowing down his cheeks, but he neglected to care.

And then she coughed. And he laughed at the irony of how glad he was to hear a cough. Her eyes fluttered open, and he paged a nurse to take the tube out. He smiled down at her, while the nurse instructed her to cough, and handed a glass of water to her once it was out.

"Cal." It was all he could say. It was all that could some up his feelings at this moment, because words were not enough and just unnecessary.

"Eric." Her voice was raspy, but the smile that graced her lips was genuine. There were tears in her eyes.

"I lo-," they both started.

"You first," said Eric, taking a seat by her knee's on the bed.

"Eric, I heard that."

It caught him by surprise, and he blushed. "What?" He tried to act calm.

"I was awake that entire time. I figured it would be easier for you if you thought I couldn't hear you." She giggled. Eric smiled and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Eric, I love you. I'm sick of ignoring us. I'm sick of lying to myself every time I see you. And I can't keep these walls up. I can't do it anymore. I want to let you in. And it's not going to be easy; you're going to get impatient with me. You are going to have to bug me until I want to slug you some days. But that's okay. Because life without you would be not worth living. I love you. And I'm so afraid to lose you… I lost a lot. But I finally feel sure about something. It's you, Eric. It's always been you. Even when it was Jake or John or Terrance, it was you. I'm ready." She smiled. He grasped her hands in his.

"If you love me, you'll stop scaring me like this," Eric joked.

"Eric Delko, do you honestly think that I planned on breathing insulation in today? I think I would have remembered something like that in my blackberry." They both laughed.

"You're amazing, did you know that?" He said quietly, fidgeting with a piece of her hair.

"I had my suspicions. Care to tell me why your dive watch was on my wrist and who the flowers are from?" She had a suspicion about this, but didn't let on.

"Well, one of the smartest women I know told me that girls love flowers. And I figured that flowers weren't totally non-kosher for this. The silver box in front of that would be your ridiculously rare truffles."

"And what about the watch?"

"It mean's 'it's time'."

"Time for what?"

"For you to wake up. For us. Cal- it's time for us." The words made him smile, and she laughed with joy.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And with those simple, yet oh so complete words, Eric leaned down over her bed, placed a hand behind her head and touched her forehead to his. Their noses nuzzled as he brought a finger to her lips and traced them. They looked into each other's eyes, enjoying the proximity, the erratic fluttering of each heart.

A brush of the lips, and he was kissing her, and she kissing him back.

And they grew old together, always in love. Always.


End file.
